Shelly Jamison is a former television news reporter from Phoenix, Arizona, who gained nationwide popularity as a Playboy magazine cover model in July 1989. She is known for her stunning figure and huge nipples.

"When I was a teenager, I was always a show-off," says Shelly (keeping up with the news, above and opposite). "And becoming a TV anchor was not a far fetched idea. A lot of today's newswomen were formerly Miss This or Miss That. And I was once Miss Arizona Boat Show," she confesses. "It was cheesy stuff, really: You put on a bathing suit and stood next to a boat." Eventually, Shelly was introduced to the news business by her stepfather, then one of the town's top talking heads. "Now he's the weekend anchor for the NBC affiliate in Phoenix," she says, laughing. "He's my competition!" Not here, at least.Although her news job has put her in the spotlight countless times, Shelly (on and off the set, below) admits that posing under the Playboy lights was something entirely different. "It was this whole psychological thing," she says. "First, they dressed me up in this sexy outfit—push-up bra, panties, the works—and then slowly had me undress for the camera. For the first six rolls of film, I was pretty uptight," she says, giggling. "Then I started to warm up." Happily for all.

I had this horrible dream—a real night­mare—that the magazine came out, I was fired from Channel Ten and wound up autographing pizza boxes at a Pizza Hut opening. I thought, Hell, I don't want to lose credibility—I want to gain exposure. -SHELLY JAMISON, October 1988

NEWSCASTER [smiling]: Good morning, Arizona—here's today's top story: In a move that has shocked co-workers, bosses and friends, Channel Ten newscaster-producer Shelly Jamison has bared all in an exclusive pictorial in this month's Playboy magazine. A local television personality known best for her in­telligence, enthusiasm and good looks, Jamison kept the details of her magazine debut, ah, entirely under wraps from the hard-working news team at the local CBS affiliate. . . .

That's right, Shelly Jamison, newscaster, has become Shelly Jamison, news maker. And for the time being, that suits her just fine.

"I've been in the business long enough to know you want a good sound bite—a good explanation as to why I did this," Shelly told us last October during a whispered interview at her desk at KTSP, Channel Ten in Phoenix. "But, to tell the truth, I'm not really sure. I know I wanted to expand my horizons, I wanted something more. Instead of being the reporter, for once I felt like being the subject.

"Face it," she continued with a half-smile, "I'm a product—whether I'm reporting on TV or appearing nude on the pages of Playboy. Plain and simple: I'm a package."

Far from plain or simple, the Shelly Jamison package arrived at Playboy in a somewhat roundabout way. When the magazine announced its 35th Anniversary Playmate Hunt, Shelly sent in some bathing-suit shots just as a goof, really—and more or less forgot all about it. "That is, until I got a call from the Photo Department," she recalls, "telling me they were interested and asking me to send more shots—nudes. I hung up and started to giggle. I called my parents and grandparents; I sat down and talked to my husband, Ron. He said, 'If you sendthose nudes, they'll call you in for sure.'

"So we tore down the living room, tookthe lamp shades off the lamps, put the babyin the baby swing and began to shoot. Rontook out hisPlayboy collection—there's astack of them a mile high by the bed—andtold me how to pose. It was like he wasPompeo [Posar], Jr."

Interesting is putting it mildly: Shelly ismore than a popular talking head. Wearing the proverbial "many hats," she churnsout 16-hour workdays("Nobody shouldhave to wake up at three-thirty A.M.!"), notonly producing the station's noon newscastbut also serving as on-camera field re­porter for the morning and evening news. "As producer," she explains, "I whip theshow into shape—everything from decid­ing how much time the weatherman getsto giving that first segment punch. But Ireally like the reporting," she adds, "meeting new people, wringing them out for information. That's what the job calls for."

NEWSCASTER: So how did the twenty-six year-old, down-home, native Phoenician get herself into the center of such a media storm in the first place? For Jamison, the tale begins when she was a child.

[Roll video of Jamison family scrapbook pictures.]

JAMISON VOICE-OVER: As a kid, I was alwaysthe little show-off—"Let Me Entertain You" and all that. My parents divorced when I was eight and my mom remarried a man who was the top anchor for the ABC affiliate in town. One day, he asked me if I wanted to go with him to work. When I got there, I took one look around and thought, This is great! From that point on, I knew I wanted to be in TV news reporting . . .

Indeed, when the news bug bit, it bithard. Majoring in broadcast journalism atArizona State University, Shelly filled her after school hours with internships, serving as a tape editor and news writer for variouslocal stations. Fresh from graduation, shewaltzed into Channel Ten and a just-vacated position. "My title was assistant producer," she says, "but, to be honest, I was agrunt. They paid me near minimum wageto do things like paste scripts together.The job was fun, but I still dreamed of being an anchor—and I let everyone within ahundred-mile radius know exactly that.

"Everyone told me that I'd have to startsmall, at a little station somewhere else. Ithought, Fuck that, and began producingmy own stories on my own time. Week afterweek, I'd take them to my producer, eachtime changing my make-up, my hair, myvoice. And each time, it was close-but-no-cigar."

But in August of 1986, Shelly gave it onemore push. The station was replacing a regular anchor and needed a one-week fill-in for the morning news cut-ins (four brieflocal updates during theCBS Morning News). "Frankly, I just beat them down," she says, laughing. "And when they actually said yes, I was elated, scared and sick tomy stomach."

As is her style, however, Shelly turnedher newscast debut into an exercise in self-improvement. Watching a video replay ofherself directly after her first segment, shedecided to make changes for the secondone, 40 minutes later. "In that first cut-in, Ilooked stiff and nervous and my eyeslooked like piss holes in the snow," she remembers. "I knew I was much better thanthat, so I fixed my hair and make-up andthe way I carried myself. And I got bettereach day."

Her weeklong stint as a morning anchor sparked a new determination in Shelly, andshe stepped up her treks into her bosses'offices. Eventually, they agreed to let herjoin the Channel Ten news team as an on-camera reporter.

NEWSCASTER: But now Jamison has placed it all on the line with her Playboyappearance. [Roll video of exterior of Channel Ten.] Despite her four and a half years of loyalty and service, it is unlikely that station man­agers will take warmly to Jamison's new­found popularity.

"I can tell you exactly what they're goingto say," snaps Shelly. "They'll tell me thatmy credibility is shot—that viewers willnow think, How can I believe her about the Central Arizona Project if she's inPlayboy? She must be dumb. That's so hypocritical.Connie Chung is a looker andher credibility isn't questioned. But my appearance inPlayboy will be considered crossing thecredibility boundary. That's crazy.Playboy is an institution—likeThe Wall Street Journal. Besides, I'll still be talented. I'll stillhave a good voice. I'll still be smart. I'llstill be good-looking and I'll still begood in front of a camera. There's yourdichotomy."

When Shelly talks of an imminent dismissal, she isn't bluffing: "Right before themagazine hits the stands," she warned uslast October, "I'll have already cleared outmy desk." The problem, according toShelly, stems from the news industry's preoccupation with image. "On one hand,"' she says, "news ratings are based on popu­larity; at work, we're constantly being reminded of ournumbers, the people we reach. And in Playboy, I know I'll be seen by more people than my bosses could everdream about. But on the other hand,Channel Ten is not the kind of station totake advantage of the publicity and suddenly put me up on billboards or on thesides of buses," she says, sighing. "No, I'mpretty positive I'll be fired—if not, at leastyanked off the air."

And just suppose Shelly's suspicions come true—if suddenly, overnight, she finds herself back on the sidewalk with lit­tle more than a résumé and a smile?

"I'm not going to curl up and die if I'mfired," she says with typical confidence. "Iwas always a big ham and, now that I'vedone news, I know I can do anything.Hand me five things on a platter and I'lltell you which one's good.

"I'd love to be an anchor forEntertainment Tonight," she confides, blushing."Iknow it's not considered as serious as anews job, butit's glamorous, high profileand has great exposure—if you'll excusethat word popping up again.

"But when it comes down to it," she con­cludes, "this is exactly what viewers wantwhen they tune into the news. They wantto reel from the day's big shocker—to beamused by it, to feel it. Then the next day,they're back in front of the TV again, look­ing for another story. That's what the newsis all about, isn't it?"

NEWSCASTER: Although the end of her story has yet to be written, one thing can definitely be said of Shelly Jamison, Phoenix' newest rising star: She had the courage to put herself in the very spotlight she has so often aimed at others. And to this reporter, at least, she looks darn good. . . .